Electrically-welded joint



N0. 6l6,435. Patented Dec. 20, I898. R. EYRE &. W. DISHONG.

ELEGTRICALLY WELDED JOINT.

(Application filed Feb. 7, 1898.)

(No Model.)

Fly. 4.

- VENTUHJ'.

A Trim/Er.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF C RICHARD EYRE AND \VILLIAM DISHONG, OF 'JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYL- VANIA, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE iLORA IN STEEL COMPANY, OF OHIO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent lil' o. 616,435, dated December 20, 1898.

Application filed February 7, 1898- Serial No; 669,379. (No model.) 1

abutting rails by the usual electric-welding It is of course old to electrically weld a pair of splice-bars to the abutting rails,

process.

and we have therefore no intention of claiming novelty in this per se. Certain difliculties have, however, been met with in joints of this character. A joint for continuous track must have sufficient strength to withstand an ylongitudinal tension which may be put into the track by the tendency 'of the rails to contract when their temperature falls much belowthat at which they were welded. It must also have suificient transverse stiffness to prevent any vertical movement of the rails when subjected to the weight of themoving vehicles. To obtain this transverse stifinessflt has been- =customary to provide comparatively short splice-bars having vertical projections near their ends, and these-projections were Welded to the side of the rails. In welding the splicebars to the rails and in cooling the welds af-' terward much heat is conveyed to the rail surrounding the splice-bar projection. This tends to cause severe strains, because of the sharp contrast in the temperature of the rail at adjacent portions of the same. This'is especially bad in the case of, vertical projections, because so great a height of the railsection is subject to the spread of heat, with the consequent strains, The evil effect is still further exaggerated by the shortness of the splice-bars, for under the influence or strong longitudinal tension a crack will start at the back of one of the projections, and this will easily spread by a horizontal crack through the thin web ofthe rail to the end thereof. By. our invention we avoid both of these dilficulties, for we provide comparatively long splice bars, which are either welded to the rail or through a hole in the rail to each other at the extreme ends of the splice-bars. These end welds are made with the sole purpose in view of providing a form best adapted to withstand longitudinal ten sion. For transverse stiffness we weld the rails together at their ends. We thus provide a pair of welds at the extreme ends of the bars which withstandtension, and we provide a common weld connecting the rail ends, this weld being provided with the sole purpose in view of standing transverse strains, so that the joint will be absolutely stifi. By following this principle we are enabled'to form the projections on the'splice-bar of the best possible shape forLthe particular purpose in view, and the center weld will not readily break, for the tension is withstood by the end welds.

Referring to the drawings, Figures 1, 2, and

3 show difierent forms of splice-bars embodying the general features of our invention. Fig. 4 shows a cross-section of a joint made with the bars shown in Fig. 2, the section corresponding to a line through the center of one of theend projections. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of a joint, showing another modified form of our invention.

We desire to disclaim any invention which may specifically lie in the form of splice-bar shown in Fig. 3, as this is aspecific invention which forms part of the subject-matter of an application of H. F. A. Kleinschmidt, filed February 2, 1898, Serial Number 669,353.

Ais the splice-bar, which we prefer to make in each case in the shape of a plain rectangular bar.

B, B, and B represent various modified forms which the central member to be welded to both rails may take and which are designed, as heretofore set forth, to give transverse stifiness to the-joint.

C, C, and 0* represent the end projections of the splice-bars,which are to be either welded to the rail,as (land 0', or welded through a hole in the rail to each other, as O'.

InFigs. 1 to '4, inclusive, the central meme bers are projections from the center of the a plain vertically-disposed rectangle.

splice-bar. As the weld which is to be made at this point is for vertical stifinessonly, the central member may be, as shown in Fig. 1, composed of'two small separated projections B, or, as shown in the remaining figu'res, as Other shapes-such as vertically {disposed ovals,

. &c.wonld of course fall within the scope of Fig. 1.

'bars being welded to each other.

our invention. As shown in Fig. 5, it is not necessary that the central member shall be connected with the splice-bar, for very excellent joints have been made in which the transverse stifiness was gained with the aid of rectangular plates B as shown in Fig. 5.

'A good form of end projection is shown in Such a shape heats very little of the rail-section. A modification is shown in Fig.

2,'in which circular bosses pass through a hole we claim, and desire to protect by Letters Pat-v cut, is 1.- The combination of the rails and splicebars, connections between the ends of the splice-bars and the rails adapted towithstand the tension put into the rails when their temperature falls below that at which they are joined, and members which are each welded to both 'of the juxtaposed rail ends so as to impart transverse sti-finess to the joint.

bars, connections between the ends of the splicebars and the rails adapted to withstand the tension, put into the rails when their tem perature falls below that at which they are joined and members which are each welded to both ofthe juxtaposed rail ends 'so as to impart transverse stiifness to the joints and 2; The-combination oftherails and splice- 01.

which connect said juxtaposed rail ends with thesplice-bars. v 3. A rail-joint comprising. the combination of the rails, and splice-bars welded to andconnecting the same, one of the -welds which I connect therails and splice-bars being a union between the central portion of the splice-bars and-the abutting ends of both rails, the others of said welds being between each end of the splice-bars and one of the rails.

4. The combination of the rails and splicebars, welds securing the ends of the spline bars to the rails to prevent longitudinal movement of the rails, and an independentweld uniting the center of the splice-bars to both rails adjacent to their ends to prevent vertical-movement of the rails. 3

5. A pairof splice-bars having horizontally} disposed end projections and a vertically-disposed center projection in combination with a pair of railsboth of which are welded'to the said center projectionsand each of which is welded to one of the end projections of each bar.

RICHARD EYRE. WILLIAM DISI-IONG.

signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

-Witnesscs:

MYRTLE E. SHARPE, BLANCHE GRUMZER.

In testimony whereof we have aflixed our Q 

